I was going to do a tutorial on how I made my entry hallway arrow for you today, but you know what? I really hate to read super simple, duh, sort of tutorials, so I won't put you through that.
In a nutshell, it was an old piece of wainscoting I had bought at the Habitat For Humanity Restore and I drew an arrow on it and cut it out.
I painted it with off-white chalk paint and added some old schoolhouse type coat hooks. It's hung up with Command Adhesive Strips.
No twelve step tutorial needed for that!
The hooks I used on it though? Those sort of rounded screw-in type hooks?
They came from the house I grew up in. From my bedroom closet to be exact.
I grew up in an older home. Nothing fancy. Nothing fancy at all.
Nowadays you would call it farmhouse style. Back then we just called it home 🙂
I used to play around in that closet. I remember building forts and hiding behind boxes in there. Setting an ironing board up in the doorway and playing store in there. Sitting on the floor, hiding behind the clothes with a flashlight and reading books in there. All sorts of fun stuff.
To keep this in perspective, this wasn't a walk-in closet. It was probably two feet deep by five feet wide. I must have been one small sized kid, because it seemed like a whole other room to me.
When ducking and playing around in the closet, I would occasionally stand up too quickly and bang my head into these hooks. Or walk into them. Or have one jab me in the eye.
Many a bruise was caused by these stupid hooks.
But when we sold my mom's house after she died, it was these hooks that I wanted to keep.
I unscrewed them from my closet wall and carefully packed them away. I had no intention of using them for anything other than just being a keepsake from the house I grew up in. But when I made this arrow it was just begging for something else.
So out came the hooks.
Stupid hooks that I love. Because they came from the house I grew up in.
And are part of my house now.
Oh, and I played it smart. I hung that arrow and those hooks up high on the wall. It's amazing what a few hooks to the eyeball will teach you.
Stacey
That's so neat that you grew up with the hooks and have memories. They look amazing on the arrow!
monkey
awwww xx
Bonnie Schulte
I loved hearing your story of memories. Isn't it funny, how something so simple, plays such an important part in our lives. How wonderful that you saved those hooks, and how nice to see that they are still being used...
Sally @DrinkingFromMySaucer
OH gracious!!! This kinda made me tear up... I used to have hooks exactly like this in my closet too -- and we had upper hooks for me (the big sister) and lower ones for my little sister because we shared a room/closet. What I also remember is that if you hung a hanger on the hooks the wrong way.... it would slip around that one wire and end up on the lower hook. That always baffled my little brain. LOL Nothing like those old SIMPLE homes. Thanks for bringing back good memories! =)
Pam Kessler
They were like magical hooks weren't they 🙂 I remember they didn't stay straight very often. You could never really screw them in far enough.
Musings from Kim K.
Those hooks make your project even more special. Love the story behind this post and it made me tear up too! My grandparents had a special closet in their front entryway that my sister and I used to play elevator. It was small and filled with lots of outerwear, but in our world it was a magic elevator.
Pam Kessler
Ahh, a magic elevator 🙂 So cute!
Joanne Noragon
The very same hooks in our kitchen closet. They held aprons and the rag bag on the right hand side and dad's hats on the other.
Deanies Stash
Pam, I loved this post about the hooks. I have reused things in my revamped sewing room that were from my grandma's kitchen. They bring back so many memories as does your hooks for you. I just smiled my way through the post.
Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces
I love this post, Pam...it's so special you could re-use something that brings back fun childhood memories and a sense of home...
TARYTERRE
What a sweet story about the hooks. Glad you put them in your latest project. They look perfect.
Shabby chic Sandy
I just love those hooks--what a great keepsake!
ThrifterSisters
The gate to our garden is the an old wrought iron gate that was from my dad's childhood home. On a drunken high school dare, he stole it off of the house (after it was sold). It always makes me laugh when I see it.
Love the arrow! They are super trendy right now. I see them all over IG. I'm just glad that you made a coat rack out of one instead of tattooing it on yourself 🙂
~Erica
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Aww, pretty, pretty hooks. I love them. Funny, the little things we come to treasure.
Lottie
What precious hooks! And I love what you did with the arrow, too!
Debra Howard
It turned out adorable! My daughter would love this...pinning for her.
Minnie's Milestones
Love your story! I grew up in a farmhouse that had attic cubby holes. I was scared of these places most of the time, but if we were playing hide-in-seek they did come in handy.
Jann Olson
Super cute Pam! Arrows are hot, hot, hot!!!
hugs,
Jann
Rustown Mom
I have those exact hooks that I found at a Salvation Army store still in the package...and I also have a lot of scrap wood...hmm. Seeing a potential here.